| KRGS | |
| Country: | US |
| Area: | Grand Junction, Colorado |
| Branding: | ESPN 690 AM/98.9 FM |
| Frequency: | 690 kHz |
| Airdate: | (as KWSR at 810) |
| Format: | Defunct (was Sports) |
| Class: | D |
| Facility Id: | 71960 |
| Licensing Authority: | FCC |
| Former Frequencies: | 810 kHz (1967–1995) |
| Affiliations: | ESPN Radio |
| Owner: | Western Slope Communications, LLC |
| Sister Stations: | KAYW, KAVP, KWGL, KZKS |
| Website: | ESPN Radio 690 |
KRGS (690 AM) was a radio station licensed to Rifle, Colorado, United States. The station was owned by Western Slope Communications, LLC. In 2019 the Federal Communications Commission granted a construction permit to move to a new transmitter site, increase day power to 2,300 watts and increase night power to 16 watts. It expired in 2022 without being built.[1] [2]
On July 6, 1965, the Oil Shale Broadcasting Company applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to build a new 1,000-watt, daytime-only radio station on 810 kHz in Rifle. The commission granted the permit on December 2, 1966,[3] and the station began broadcasting in 1967. The manager was Jimmy Seany, a former promotions manager for Denver's KWGN-TV;[4] studios were in the Winchester Hotel.[5]
The FCC designated the renewal of KWSR's broadcast license for hearing in November 1974[6] on the basis of complaints made by a former employee.[7] In January 1976, FCC administrative law judge Walter C. Miller issued an initial decision to deny the renewal. The major issue in the license renewal proceeding was that the station rigged a "Turkey Shoot" contest. He preselected winners, one of them an advertiser on KWSR, so as to avoid an imbalance in geography; the rigging was carried out by a young staffer, according to owner Norm Price.[8] Miller also cited other misrepresentations in the station's operating logs and said that although unfortunate, the station's misdeeds merited a temporary loss of radio service in Rifle.[9] Upset listeners in the Rifle area and nearby Grand Junction mounted a letter-writing campaign to the commission in protest of Miller's initial decision.[10] Oil Shale Broadcasting Company appealed, and the full FCC granted a one-year license renewal and assessed a $200 fine.[11]
KWSR was sold to Susan and Stephen Hughes in 1985. Hughes owned Rifle FM station KDBL,[12] and the stations became KDBL and KDBL-FM.[13] This was the first in a series of sales over the next decade. Servant Communications, a group with broadcast interests in Oklahoma, acquired the KDBL stations in 1987 and changed the call letters on AM to KWWS.[14] [15] Within a year, Servant sold the pair to companies owned by Steven Humphries; by this time, KWWS was airing a country music format. In 1988, the owner of KRGS, Steven Humphries, was involved in a dispute with the then owners of KKOB and KKOB-FM in Albuquerque. The owner of those stations, Fairmont Communications corporation, disputed Humphries' acquisition of KNMQ out of Santa Fe. At the time, Humphries also owned 100% of the share of Sun Media of Colorado. Sun Media was operating KRGS at the time. [16] Sister station KZKS, then known as KWWS-FM, was involved in the dispute as well.[17] Its call sign changed to KKGD in 1989.[18] The stations were sold again in 1991 for assumption of debts[19] and 1993; the new owners, Canterbury Broadcasting,[20] changed KKGD's call sign on April 21, 1994, to the current KRGS.[21]
The Federal Communications Commission cancelled the station’s license on July 24, 2024.[22]